She turned back to the research, tapping her pen on the small notebook she always kept with her. On one of the lined pages, written in small, cursive scrawl, were a few words.
“Dragonclaw Ranch.”
The place had popped up in more than one interview, and Mel still didn’t know what to make of it. She’d also heard whispers of dragons, rumors from the old folk in town who had presumably lived their whole lives here. For most of them, their parents had settled here long ago.
Still, the stuff she heard about Dragonclaw was different from any of the other curious things she ran into as a reporter.
Mel had heard stories of shape-changing wolves or bears that lived high in the mountains, but dragons? That was entirely new to her.
There just was no way, was there?
Then again, watching Dallas fight off the lanky, gross cowboy gang had honestly made her wonder. He’d moved so fast that the whole situation had felt almost… supernatural.
Supernaturally hot, more like.
That was why she’d filmed it. Part of her wanted to make sure that the police could see how the men had started it. The other part of her wanted to record the footage of Dallas being huge, sexy, and intimidating. An even tinier part of her couldn’t help but wonder if he was somehow connected to everything that was going on.
Good gravy, if she’d thought he had been hot driving an ATV, that was nothing compared to the sight of him beating the crap out of a bunch of creeps.
Too bad he’d made her delete the footage. She still couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t like he had done anything wrong, right?
Oh well, she’d throw that on the list of “things that make Dallas fascinating.”
It was already a fairly long list, and it didn’t help that she was spending more and more time thinking about him. Whenever they were together, her eyes naturally drifted toward him, even when she tried to maintain focus.
Speaking of focus, Mel had already lost it, and she’d been going over her accrued information for hours now.
Staying holed up in the trailer wouldn’t do any good. She needed a break.
With that thought, she got up from the table and opened the trailer door. As she stepped down into the dirt, Dallas looked up from his knife and cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Let’s go out!” she exclaimed. “I’m tired of being cooped up in there, and I want to do something fun.”
He blinked and stared up at her blankly.
Mel cleared her throat. “Where do you go to have fun around here?”
Dallas just gave her a confused look.
“Fine,” she said, about to give up. “I can just go to the bar down the street if there’s really nowhere else to go.”
After the last few days, Mel could definitely use a drink, but drinking alone wasn’t fun, and she wanted to spend time getting to know Dallas. She wanted to know what he did for a living and what his life was like out here in this small town.
Heck, she wanted to know everything about him. That was if he would ever fully open up to her.
Dallas scowled at her pronouncement about the bar, then stood up, dusting off his hands.
“Wait here.”
With that, he disappeared into the trailer, then reappeared a few minutes later holding a blue and white cooler in one hand and the keys to his truck in the other.
He looked incredibly handsome today, even more so than usual, with his black Stetson, grey button-up that went nicely with his tanned skin, and blue jeans that did little to hide his huge, muscular legs.
“Where are we going?” Mel asked curiously, following him.
Dallas didn’t say a word. Instead, he just gestured over toward his big shiny truck and held the passenger door open for her to get in.
She cocked an eyebrow suspiciously, but when he again gestured for her to get in, she walked over and hopped up.
“So I’m guessing we’re not going to the bar.”
He shook his head, turning the key and bringing the engine roaring to life.
“Are we leaving town?”
Dallas shook his head again.
Mel laughed exasperatedly. “Is it at least fun?”
At that, he gave her a sideways look and nodded, then turned back to face the road.
She sat back in her seat, feeling satisfied. That was all she really needed to know, that she was going somewhere fun and she was going with him.
As they drove across town, past shop after shop, Mel couldn’t help but feel her curiosity growing. Where could he be taking her?
Her answer came when he parked beneath the large, faded silver water tower that loomed like a silent guardian over the quiet southern town.
“The water tower? Why here?” she asked.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he just grunted, grabbed the cooler, and got out of the car. She followed him over to the bottom of the tower where she became even more shocked when he began to climb up the ladder.
Well, if he’s doing it, must be safe, she thought, following after him with a shrug.
Halfway up the ladder, Mel made the mistake of looking up right at his extremely attractive behind.
Oops.
When he got to the top, he set down the cooler and leaned down, offering her a hand-up, which she took.
She gasped when she caught sight of the view from the top. The endless Texas horizon was basking in the light of a magnificent sunset. In front of them, the town glowed red in the evening light, and in the distance, cars passed and people came and went.
It was like a scene out of a movie, the picturesque small town, quiet and tranquil and surrounded by wide-open space.
Dallas sat down, resting his hands on his knees and gesturing for her to do the same. Once she had, he pulled a few ice-cold beers from the cooler and handed one to her.
“So beautiful,” she said, still in awe of the view. “Is this your favorite spot to hang out?”
He nodded.
Mel took a sip of the beer. “I
